LAYTON – Funeral services were due to be held Wednesday morning at the Davis Conference Center for Layton Mayor Steve Curtis.

He died unexpectedly in his sleep early Friday morning, Nov. 29, at his home. Curtis was 58.

“He was always the head cheerleader for the city,” said Michael Bouwhuis, a city councilman who has known the mayor for many years.

“We’d go to events, and he was so proud of the city, he really tried to pump people up. He was the advocate supreme,” Bouwhuis said.

Curtis was nearing the end of his second term as mayor, a position he had held for just a month short of eight years. He did not seek a third term.

Prior to that, he served 18 years on the city council.

“Steve Curtis was a dear friend,” said Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson.

“He was a wonderful servant, so willing and caring about the county and about his city. Quite honestly, he was concerned about all of our cities,” he said.

“I’m so surprised and saddened,” Johnson added.

“He will be greatly missed. He was a great man: a man of integrity, honesty, principles and morals,” said Barbara Riddle, CEO of the Davis Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

He leaves behind his wife of nearly 32 years, RaeLynn, children Stephanie (Drew), Riley, Austin (Katie), Karson and Katie Rae, and three grandchildren, six brothers and sisters, and mother and father-in-law, Ray and Kathryn Wood.

Curtis worked in telecommunications for what is now CenturyLink for nearly 30 years.

“He was such an advocate for Hill AFB,” Bouwhuis said. “He was well-known for his support of the base and the airmen, served as an honorary commander.”

“What a great guy,” said Sen. Stuart Adams, who served with Curtis on the city council.

“He was passionate about what he wanted and he did an exceptional job for the city. Our heart goes out to his wife and family, all of those around him. It’s a real loss for the whole community,” Adams said.

“He lived by the saying and taught his children that ‘to be the best that you can be you must dream of being more.’ It is Steve’s belief that the future will not be created by chance, but by choice; it is not a thing waited for, but a thing to be achieved.

“He was just an ordinary guy who did extraordinary things,” an online obituary by Lindquist Layton Mortuary said.